Comments on May 2011 Survey Question #1

I’d be curious to hear the experiences of those who’ve picked up tickets off the secondary market.

Ditto.

I’ve never bought on the secondary market. But, I’m interested in it. Only downside, that I can see, is for the ticket stub collector, like me, you end up with crappy e-ticket printouts and not the actual ticket. But, if you can really save tons of money off face value by waiting until the last minute to get tickets on the 2ndary Mkt, it might be a trade-off that I’m willing to make.

I’d be curious to hear the experiences of those who’ve picked up tickets off the secondary market.

I’ve gone through StubHub and never had any problems. There’s enough fan protection with a site like that so you have a pretty low risk of being ripped off. I’ve never bought tickets via eBay or Craigslist (and never will) although I’ve sold through those venues and haven’t had issues collecting.

Steve Lombardi wrote:

downside, that I can see, is for the ticket stub collector, like me, you end up with crappy e-ticket printouts and not the actual ticket.

I’m a stub-collector also and have every single stub for any event I’ve ever attended: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college hoops/football, concerts, etc.

I can tell you that it’s your choice to get the electronic ticket or a physical ticket so, if you want the stub, you just have to look for the sellers that tell you they will provide the tickets to you (or look for the seller’s disclaimer that they’ll only provide you with e-tickets and then avoid buying from them).

The only time you don’t get a physical ticket via StubHub or eBay is in a short-sale scenario where you buy the tickets on the day of and there’s obviously no way to transfer the tickets through the mail.

@ MJ Recanati:
Are you finding tickets to be available under face value on the 2ndary Mkt?

I only buy on the secondary market. It’s usually a ton cheaper (especially if you wait till close to gameday). I think I prefer this to actually buying season tickets because it allows me to see the view from all different places in the stadium. It’s cool to be field level 1 week then 2 weeks later sit in the bleachers and then 2 weeks later sit in the grandstand.

I had a partial plan the last year of the old stadium and made out like a bandit selling the tix.

Given the price and the location they wanted to give me in the new stadium, I didn’t renew the plan and bought tix only on the secondary mkt. I usually buy (and sold) via EBAY because the seller or buyer has a history and I could find out exactly where the seats were located. I have never bought at or over face value and I don’t wait till the last minute.

Except for Red Sox or Mets games, or the end of the season in a close pennant race, there’s no need to pay face value. The Yanks have over-reached and will pay for it as they lose season tix holders unable to sell tix they don’t need or want.

The Yanks have over-reached and will pay for it as they lose season tix holders unable to sell tix they don’t need or want.

I don’t believe this. Price theory says that the Yankees have appropriately priced their inventory in that greater demand in certain sections subsidizes those sections that are selling a little less robustly. Trust me when I tell you that the Yankees know what they’re doing and didn’t set their ticket prices arbitrarily or with an intent to gouge their customers.

I’m a stub-collector also and have every single stub for any event I’ve ever attended: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college hoops/football, concerts, etc.I can tell you that it’s your choice to get the electronic ticket or a physical ticket so, if you want the stub, you just have to look for the sellers that tell you they will provide the tickets to you (or look for the seller’s disclaimer that they’ll only provide you with e-tickets and then avoid buying from them).The only time you don’t get a physical ticket via StubHub or eBay is in a short-sale scenario where you buy the tickets on the day of and there’s obviously no way to transfer the tickets through the mail.

FWIW, today, I order tickets to a Yankees game far in the future, and could not get the option to get the real ticket. So, I called StubHub and they told me they have a deal with MLB, and, as part of that deal, they can only provide sales via e-tickets and not the real ticket.

This must be something new – because I bought tickets last year for Bat Day, via StubHub, and I got the real tickets.